


Using Their Words

by books4belle



Series: Pijercybeth Oneshots [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Bisexuality, Coming Out, Eventual Threesome, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, Multi, Open Relationships, Polyamory, Threesome - F/M/M, annabeth/jason mentioned, annabeth/percy mentioned, boys try to talk about their feelings, kind of, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2015-04-09
Packaged: 2018-03-22 00:35:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3708703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/books4belle/pseuds/books4belle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason's been very affectionate lately. And Percy doesn't like it. Well, maybe it's more that he likes it too much.<br/>Either way, it has to stop.<br/>So Percy tries to be a grown-up and talk about it. That goes... well, about how you would expect...</p>
<p>Future fic. Percy POV</p>
            </blockquote>





	Using Their Words

**Author's Note:**

> So this is part of a larger group of stories about Percy, Annabeth, Jason and Piper becoming a foursome. You don't have to have read the others to understand this one (I don't think), but some parts may make more sense if you do.
> 
> Believe it or not, this is my very first m/m slash! Hope everyone likes it.

Percy considered himself to be a fairly understanding person. 

Okay, maybe his friends wouldn’t use that word to describe him, but he could be pretty understanding in the right circumstances.

Like when Jason needed a place to stay when Piper moved out. Did Percy tell Jason to suck it up and deal with having the sub-letting Stoll brothers playing pranks on him? Nope. He and Annabeth graciously allowed Jason to have their spare bedroom.

And it wasn’t even a year into their new living arrangement when it became obvious to Percy that Jason was head over heels for Annabeth. And really, who wouldn’t be? Annabeth was amazing. So what does understanding Percy do? He encouraged Jason to tell Annabeth how he felt. And Percy was happy to do it. Annabeth had been by his side through Hell and back. They’d both had other relationships and they’d figured out how to make that work together. And Jason was a good guy who deserved to have some happiness too.

But there was one thing that kept bothering Percy about Jason. Like most demigods, Jason was very physically affectionate. Percy hadn’t really noticed anything strange about it until recently. But sometimes it seemed like Jason’s touches were more than the platonic cuddles that he shared with his other friends. Sometimes they seemed down-right flirty. And it had only gotten worse since Annabeth and Jason had started sleeping together.

And Percy didn’t like it.  
Well, maybe it was more that he liked it too much.

Either way, it had to stop.

“Percy, use your words,” Annabeth chided him from time to time.

Well, ‘Knock it off with that touchy-feely crap’ _were_ words. In fact, they were a whole sentence. But Jason didn’t seem to be getting it.

The boys were taking a short study break -- two hours of Halo totally counts as a short break -- when Jason paused the game to get more soda. He asked if Percy needed anything, then as he crossed to the kitchen, he put his hand on Percy’s head, brushing his fingers lightly through Percy’s hair. He might have mistaken it for a balance check, if it wasn’t for the playful smirk on Jason’s face indicating that the touch wasn’t accidental. 

“Dude, we talked about this!” Percy exclaimed, turning to complain to Jason’s retreating back. Sure, he knew it probably wasn’t how Annabeth would start this conversation, but whatever.

Jason’s voice was muffled as he rummaged in the refrigerator. “Talked about what?”

“I told you to stop touching me like that!” Percy stood and turned to face the kitchen and his infuriating roommate. 

“What are you talking about, bro?” Jason looked genuinely confused, which was all the more frustrating to Percy. Here he was, trying to be a grown-up and talk about his feelings and Jason was being oblivious. 

“All the touching!” Percy wiggled his fingers in front of him. “You’re always up in my face these days. Squeezing my knee or my shoulder. Putting your arm around me when we’re sitting on the couch with Annabeth. Hell, you even kissed me goodbye after you kissed her the other day!”

“Just on the cheek,” Jason grinned. “I didn’t want you to feel neglected.”

“Well, quit it already!” Percy huffed, exasperated. 

Jason’s face shifted into the calm, emotionless expression that Percy and Annabeth called ‘Wolf House Neutral’. “Oh. Okay.” He picked up his glass and a fresh bag of chips and headed back into the living room, giving Percy a wide berth as he passed.

Percy rolled his eyes. He hated this stuff. He never got it right. “Don’t be like that…”

“No, you’re right. It’s got to be strange when your friend and your girlfriend...”

_‘Start banging each other,’_ Percy thought as Jason tried to find the right words to continue. 

“Change the dynamics of their relationship.” Jason finished more diplomatically.

Percy shook his head emphatically. “That’s not it at all. Annabeth and I are used to this.” 

Jason sat back down on the couch, shooting Percy a sarcastic look.

“Seriously, I know you keep expecting me to turn into a giant squid of anger or whatever about this, but it’s not going to happen.” Percy flopped back down next to his friend. “Annabeth is happy and that makes me happy. You two getting it on really doesn’t bother me.”

Jason looked directly into Percy’s eyes. “But me touching you does?”

Percy squirmed under the intense gaze and glanced away. “Yeah.”

“Why?”

There was no way, no way in any universe, that Percy had the right words to answer that question. He doubted even Annabeth would know what to say in this situation. 

When the silence between them was long enough to be super awkward, Percy said the first thing that came to his mouth: “It’s weird, dude.”

Hurt flickered in Jason’s eyes for a moment. _‘Shit! Shit!’_ Percy thought. _‘Well, that was clearly the wrong answer.’_

“Uh, um. I mean,” Percy tried to recover. 

“No, it’s fine.” Jason said coolly, picking up his game controller from the table. “I didn’t figure you, of all people, would have a problem with it, but I’ll stop if it makes you uncomfortable.”

Percy wasn’t about to leave the conversation there. He took the controller out of Jason’s hands. “What do you mean ‘you of all people’?”

“Well, I guess I didn’t expect a guy who’s bisexual to be all ‘no homo’.”

“What!?” Percy protested. “That’s not what I meant.”

“You said it was _weird_.” Jason emphasized the last word with a tone of disgust.

Percy was floundering. How had he fucked this up so badly? “Weird’s not the right word. I mean...”

“You don’t seem to think it’s weird to hug other guys.” Jason interrupted, his calm demeanor slipping away. “I’ve never seen you brush off Leo or Will or any of our other friends from camp.

“Jason…”

“Dude, whatever. I was just trying to be friendly.” Jason grabbed the controller back and turned toward the screen. 

“That’s the problem.” Percy blurted out, past the point of being able to think before he spoke. His voice came out all quiet and mumbling. He was a little surprised that Jason heard him at all.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jason was clearly still annoyed, but something in his tone reminded Percy of times when Annabeth was talking him through a tough problem. Something that hinted of long-suffering patience and indulgence. 

But what was he supposed to say now? The only thing coming to mind was _“You make me want things I can’t have!”_ and people didn’t say shit like that in real life. 

Percy sighed, frustrated at his complete inability to speak and embarrassed by the thought of revealing how he felt. But he couldn’t really mess things up any worse than he already had. 

“The problem is,” he started hesitatingly, “that I know you mean it as a friend. But sometimes…” he paused.

Jason reached out instinctively to place a comforting hand on Percy’s arm. He caught himself just in time, and his hand hovered awkwardly in the air between them for a moment. 

Percy screwed up his face, like he was about to rip off a bandaid. His words came out in a rush: “Sometimes when you do that I don’t think of you as just a friend and it makes me feel weird because I know that you don’t feel that way and so I just freeze up because I don’t know how to react and I don’t want to freak you out and…”

The warmth of Jason’s hand covering his surprised Percy into silence. He looked up, expecting to see laughter in his friend’s expression, or worse yet, sympathy. Instead, Jason looked almost nervous. _Oh, crap,_ Percy thought. _Did I say too much?_

“So... How do you know I’m not interested?” Jason asked cautiously.

It was Percy’s turn for a sarcastic look. “Um, ‘cause you're straight.” He had to stop himself from adding a “duh” at the end of the sentence, because grown-ups didn’t say duh. Anyway, the “duh” was implied.

Jason seemed a bit taken aback by that. “No I’m not.”

_Wait, what!?_ “You’re not what?” Percy couldn’t be hearing this right.

“I’m not straight,” he replied. Jason almost seemed surprised to hear himself say the words aloud. 

To say that Percy was overwhelmed was putting it mildly, and from the panicked, almost nauseous look on Jason’s face, he felt the same way. This had all gotten very real, very fast. 

Percy wasn’t sure what to say next. A thought occurred to him. It was probably a terrible one, but he said it anyway: “Prove it.”

Jason was clearly startled by this change in tone. “Prove what?”

“Prove you’re not straight.” They might not be very good with emotions, but displays of power were second nature to them. Jason had never been one to back down from a dare and Percy was pretty sure he wasn’t going to start now. Feeling more confident, he moved closer to Jason, getting up into his face.

As he expected, Jason rose to the challenge. “You want me to prove it? Just say when and where, Jackson.”

“Oh, that’s easy.” Percy grinned. “Kiss me.”

Their faces were close enough that they were practically touching already. Percy couldn’t help but watch Jason’s lips, willing him to take the bait. He still didn’t really believe that Jason was interested in him, but he wasn’t going to pass up this chance.

One tense moment passed, then another. Percy felt like he was about to explode or pass out or something. 

Then Jason pulled back, shaking his head. 

Something in Percy’s gut twisted painfully. He hadn’t wanted to get his hopes up, but he hadn’t been able to help himself.

Jason reached up and cupped Percy’s face in his hand. “Is that really what you want, Percy? You want our first kiss to be a dare?”

And there went Percy’s stomach again. He’d been in enough life-or-death situations to know that this wasn’t going to kill him. But it was seriously hard on his nerves. 

He playfully smacked Jason’s arm, as much to relieve some tension as to chide him. “Our first kiss was on a dare, you jerk. Did you forget?”

Percy watched the memory of that playful morning on the Argo II surface as Jason’s smile turned into chuckles. “I didn’t forget, exactly. I just didn’t realize that counted as our first kiss.”

“Oh, it counts!” Percy stated emphatically. “That kiss was a very formative experience for me.”

Jason burst out laughing. Percy guessed he should have been embarrassed, but he was feeling way too good for that at the moment. “That said,” Percy continued as he traced the line of Jason’s jaw with his fingertips, “I believe there’s still room for improvement.”

Jason composed himself enough to reply. “We _were_ pretty young then.”

“And you were straight.” Percy quipped. “I’m still not entirely convinced…”

Percy was very familiar with shut-up kisses. He’d gotten more than a few over the years. He never minded. Whatever he was saying was always less interesting than the feel of another person’s lips pressed to his. And with his ADHD, by the time the kiss was done, he never remembered what he’d been saying in the first place. 

And as he liked to say, Percy always considered himself a very understanding person.

**Author's Note:**

> There may be more to this, likely with an appearance by Annabeth. Stay tuned!
> 
> If you want to read about Jason and Percy's actual first kiss, check out [Not a Bad Way to Wake Up.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1460281)
> 
> Also, come visit me on [tumblr](http://goodforharpies.tumblr.com)


End file.
